Philippines Harvest Fair: Promoting Sustainable Farm Tourism

Ongoing at the Central Square BGC this weekend is the Philippine Harvest food and travel fair. This is the second edition under the helm of the Department of Tourism, and it highlights farm tourism, local food, and tourist destinations. What basically is happening this time is that SSI, in partnership with the DIT and the Tourism Promotions Board (TPB) have brought together accredited farm sites across the different regions, with selected travel agencies and thirty local food exhibitors.

 

 

 

 

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Don't miss Philippine Harvest, a trade fair supporting sustainable living, food, and travel, at Central Square from August 24-26! Brought to you by Central Square in partnership with SSI Group and the Department of Tourism. #PHHarvestCentralSquare #itsmorefuninthephilippines @CentralSquarePH #SSILIFE

A post shared by Central Square, BHS (@centralsquareph) on Aug 23, 2018 at 1:01am PDT

 

 

 

 

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#Pahiyas theme. One of the booth I really love from the Dept. of Tourism's #PhilippineHarvest trade fair - from Region IVA in partnership with #SSI group and #tourismpromotionsboard. The fair is open today until Sunday, mall hours. Support our country, support farm tourism, buy good quality products from our local farmers and discover more amazing things about our food culture. #foodtourism #farmtourism #farmtourismph #TPB #Darlingmovement #FilipinoFoodMovement #f52 #Discovermnl #forumsession

A post shared by Joy C. Felizardo (@joyfelizardo) on Aug 24, 2018 at 3:18am PDT

So if you’re looking for dried seafood, heirloom rice, single origin coffee and chocolates, local craft beers and fruit wines, fresh fruits, ice cream, and sausages—it’s all happening at Central Square this weekend. There are even contingents from Luzon, and representation from the Visayas and Mindanao. 

Mini-lectures on sustainable tourism and sustainable dining will also be presented, as prepared by partner World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Philippines. This is in line with the Farm Tourism Development Act of 2016, which serves as one of Government’s strategies for countryside development. 

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Photos by Philip Cu-Unjieng

SSI President Anton Huang, and DOT Undersecretary Bong Bengzon welcomed the crowd that had trooped to the Central Square, and no less than Senators Nancy Binay and Loren Legarda were seen sampling the wares and taking a tour of the Philippine Harvest stalls and booths. It was a welcome sight to witness such avid support, as several members of the diplomatic community were likewise present. 

So a wise move this weekend would be to head to Central Square and enjoy Philippine Harvest. There’s a Gourmand Market happening outside as well, so one knows that when it comes to Food this weekend, there is one primary destination.